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Second day in the garden city

We bit the bullet and went to Sentosa Island this morning. Hmmm. Not sure why. I guess cause a lot of people said we should. But we really shouldn’t have. It looks like it would be fabulous for families…or if you are young…or even young at heart, but when you are 2 grumpy old men and 2 even grumpier old women, it ain’t really a top choice!

25 minute ‘short’ bus ride

John on cable car

The cable car journey to the island was quite pleasant (for all except Madeleine, who hates heights), but it was surprisingly brief due to the proximity of the island. We decided on the one main thing we were interested in doing, which was the combined aquarium visit and pink dolphin show. So we followed the directions of the information officer on duty, who told us to get on the blue line bus and get off at the second stop. Problem was, he really meant the first stop. So we sat on the bus for a total of about 25 minutes, when really we could’ve got off after 3 minutes. Balls. Finally got off the bus and were willing and ready to buy our tickets, only to discover that the first dolphin show of the day was 2pm (it was about 11am). Sod that. Skipped the aquarium all together and went for a walk along Siloso Beach. Noice – shoes off, sand hot, people frolicking in the water. Not bad. Until Maddy noticed this dark stuff making the sand stick to her feet. Off she trots to the loos to clean it off, and discovers it’s crude oil. Lovely. Just what one wants at a family holiday location! So, after a berry sorbet, we high-tailed it out of there and went back to the ‘mainland’ to Vivo shopping centre for some browsing and some excellent hawker food hall snacks for lunch.

Siloso Beach

Wave machine

Food hall at Vivo city shopping mall

Our dumpling and vege lunch was followed nicely with more snacks and sauvignon blanc by the pool at our hotel, with the occasional dip to cool off. We attempted to go to the bar at the Marina Bay Sands – the gigantic 3 towered hotel with the battle ship across the top – but it had started to rain, so they closed the outdoor bar, and the indoor one was not taking anyone without a booking. So we took our classy selves and our money to the New Asia Bar on the 71stfloor of the Swissotel Stamford, one of the tallest hotels in the world, and we had a lovely view of the Marina Bay Sands. Actually, I lie – not a lovely view at all. Thanks to the burning of the forests (and homes of the orang-utans) in Sumatra, the smoke was making Singapore look more like Hong Kong in the pollution race. Pre-dinner drinks, however, were a delight, and we enjoyed the service and ambiance while pretending to be well-heeled ex-pats.

View from Skypark

Maddie, John & Nic

Lobby of Marina Bay Sands Hotel

We went to Chijmes for dinner. This is a lovely old building whose history has included roles as a monastery and school, and is now (controversially) serving the community as a restaurant and shop complex. Have to admit, though, the atmosphere is delightful (and the Thai food was a winner).

Overall, what started out with some dodgy experiences in the morning, turned into a memorable and enjoyable day.

2 Replies to “Second day in the garden city”

Nic I have enjoyed reading your travel stories and they have bought back such wonderful memories for me. I recognised a lot of the photos and some are similar to mine. I will use your site to gain information for future holidays that we do together (also 2 grumpy-ish couples).